The chase for the FBS rushing crown is tightening, but after four weeks one name still sits well above the pack: Duke sophomore Nate Sheppard.
Sheppard has been unstoppable through the first month, piling up 644 rushing yards at 161.0 per game with 6 rushing touchdowns and 3 receiving touchdowns for the 4-0 Blue Devils. Even in Week 4, when Duke cruised past William & Mary 62-7, he barely had to break a sweat and still turned 9 carries into 116 yards and a score. That was his lowest rushing total of the season only because the Blue Devils never needed more from him.
His early-season run has been matched by big numbers from across the country, including a cluster of backs now sitting at 125 rushing yards per game or better. Jadan Baugh is right in the middle of that surge.
The Florida star has strung together five straight 100-yard rushing games dating back to last season, a streak matched at Florida only by Emmitt Smith and Fred Taylor. This year, Baugh has gone for at least 136 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns in all four games, including 142 yards and 3 scores on 29 carries in Florida’s 52-28 win over then-No.
4 Ole Miss. He has helped push the Gators to a 4-0 start and No. 8 in the country in coach Jon Sumrall’s first season.
Wayne Knight has also been a revelation in his move from James Madison to UCLA. The Bruins’ 4-0 start has been fueled by Knight’s 445 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns on a career-best 9.1 yards per carry.
In his first two Big Ten games, he ran for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus 23 receiving yards, in a 52-38 win over Purdue, then added 100 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 10 carries while also catching 3 passes for 35 yards in a 54-3 win over Maryland. Knight had starred for Bob Chesney at James Madison last season, finishing with 1,373 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns during the Dukes’ CFP breakthrough.
Another transfer making a clean jump is Oklahoma State’s Caleb Hawkins. After rushing for 1,434 yards and 25 touchdowns as a true freshman at North Texas, Hawkins has kept rolling with 441 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns through four games for the No.
19 Cowboys. His biggest outing came in his true Big 12 debut, when he carried 31 times for 180 yards and a touchdown in Oklahoma State’s 41-24 road win at previously unbeaten West Virginia.
The Cowboys are 3-1 under first-year coach Eric Morris, who also came from North Texas, and their season already includes the Week 2 upset of Oregon.
West Virginia has its own transfer success story in Diore Hubbard. After leading all FBS players with 127.62 rushing yards per game and 1,659 yards last season at Jacksonville State, Hubbard has brought that production with him to Morgantown. Through four games, he has 510 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 5.2 yards per carry for the 3-1 Mountaineers.
Rutgers star Antwan Raymond is also living up to the billing after a slow opener. He managed only 42 yards on 14 carries against Massachusetts, but since then he has posted 134 rushing yards against Boston College, 122 yards and a touchdown against USC, and 140 yards and 3 touchdowns against Howard. Raymond has 438 rushing yards and is tracking right along with his breakout 2025 season, when he ran for 1,241 yards and 13 touchdowns for the Scarlet Knights.
Memphis sophomore Jaylin Carter remains in the mix too, even with his pace easing a bit. Carter had a season-low 62 yards on 12 carries, along with a receiving touchdown, in a 45-21 win over Tennessee-Martin in Week 4. He still has 437 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns on 7.95 yards per carry.
BYU’s LJ Martin is hanging around the top 10 as well after a Week 4 bye. He sits at 328 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 7.8 yards per carry, good for 109.33 rushing yards per game, and heads into a road game at TCU this week.
Torrance Burgess Jr. has been one of the season’s biggest surprises. The fifth-year senior had never really put together a run like this before, with his best work coming in 2023 at UTEP when he rushed for 620 yards.
He had 367 yards in 2024 in his first year at Texas State and was limited to four games last fall before an injury ended his season. Now he has 537 rushing yards on 8.5 yards per carry through four games.
After a quiet 34-yard opening game against Texas, Burgess has put together 149 yards against UTSA, 214 against North Texas and 140 yards and a touchdown on just 9 carries against Incarnate Word.
And then there is Riley, who has gone from a 1,125-yard, 10-touchdown season at Boise State to 592 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on a career-best 6.6 yards per carry through four games this fall. He has topped 138 rushing yards in each of his last three games, and that steady surge has pushed him up this leaderboard in a hurry.
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